Genkinaonna

How did you get the coconut flavor into the whipped cream? Infusing with flaked coconut? Malibu? Coconut milk? I must know! : )

I made the Swiss Chard pancakes last night to accompany some lentil soup with tasso (it was a soup kind of night) and topped them with whole milk greek yogurt with some garlic salt and flatleaf parsley mixed in. Even my three year old, who is notoriously picky about eating anything green, said they were good. They heated up well for a morning snack too.

Oatmeal Nutmeg Scones from BFMHTY...meeting Dorie on Tuesday inspired me to get back into the swing of baking my way through the book...and they made an excellent breakfast for me and the family...

Do you have a food mill? I cut up and roasted a pumpkin and then brought in the chunks to the preschool where I'm the director and had the kids take turns putting it through the food mill. They had a blast and we ended up making mini pumpkin pies out of it. I'd imagine you'd have equally good luck using a pumpkin bread recipe with the puree... The last time I did it I used a Long Island Cheese pumpkin which was a little more squash-y tasting but the kids still loved it, just used the Libby's pumpkin pie recipe subbing brown sugar for the white. Cooking with the kiddos is one the my favorite parts of my day!

I'm a big fan of the Mary-Helene's Apple cake from Around My French Table (the new Dorie Greenspan book) . Super easy, very moist, focus is totally on the apples. It's great this time of the year when all the different apples are in the stores. My husband calls it "devil cake" because he's watching what he eats, and he can't resist eating it whenever I make it.

I was also a little annoyed with the lack of consistency in the black and white challenge. I could see the blackberry creme brulee as clearly purple, but Zac's whoopie pies were just as far off. It seems like the judging is a little bit arbitrary... I thought the one pot challenge and the savory challenge would have been more suited to two separate quickfires, and the unceasing Dawn product placement was super annoying and invasive. But I'll still keep watching, if only to be snarky and critical! PS- Seth, thanks for that last post, I'm glad you seem to have your head on a lot straighter than they showed you on the show...you clearly have talent as a pastry chef and hopefully your next adventure will go a little smoother!

Damn, wish it had occurred to me to throw the meat in the slow cooker...must've used up all my brain power at work! Next time for sure!

I guess I wasn't the only one eating hachis parmentier last night! Since I didn't get home from work until 6 it was a laaaate dinner (like 10pm) but totally worth the wait. I was looking forward to eating leftovers tonight, but my dad raided the fridge at lunch and ate the rest! I also made the salted butter break ups but I think I overworked them, as I tend to do with anything remotely resembling tart dough...but they tasted good anyways, just a funky texture.

I think they're brilliant! Presumably the point is that you don't get your laptop keys dirty or get food in the computer while you snack and browse Egullet simultaneously. Plus if you have small children you can use them to prod them up the stairs so you can get back to browsing on said laptop while they put themselves to bed! Now an avocado scoop, that's a stupid tool. Like everyone doesn't have a large spoon in their drawer!

Rose Jam, sounded good, but haven't quite gotten around to coming up with a recipe yet...a whole buncha dried pinto beans when I know damn good and well I'm going to half ass it and use the canned refried beans next time I want mexican. Some little squiggly tapioca strings that looked interesting but I haven't a clue what to do with...plus 3 vacuum packs of tapioca pearls for making bubble tea, which is so much better out anyways. Random kinds of vinegar, when all I really ever use is apple cider, rice wine, and balsamic. I have about 10 different kinds of rice too, some probably 10 years old that moved with me from WI to OR. Eventually I'm going to use it, really... It seems like the only possible way to get rid of this stuff is to have a "cleaning out the pantry" party and only make dishes from the ingredients I have on hand. Pinto-Bubble-Forbidden Rice pudding anyone?

Making the Gerard's Mustard Tart tonight, for the Fridays with Dorie group...we'll see how it turns out. I found the mustard in a wine shop of all places, but I still need to track down the creme fraiche. It seems like I always see it at the store when I don't need it but there's none to be found when I have a recipe I need it for! Kinda like mascarpone whenever I have the urge to make tiramisu. I'd just make it myself, but I don't want to wait and I'd still have to go to the store to get the heavy cream...

Thanks! I should get extra points for doing it on the kitchen table while various small children crawl under said table and steal pieces of fondant to snack on... and it's not even the homemade stuff, just the Wilton which tastes gross! I guess there's no accounting for taste when you're two.

Don't know if this counts as baking, per se, since I didn't turn the oven on for it (although I did make pumpkin muffins this morning and I've got almond biscotti in the oven right now) but I started my daughter's third birthday cake today. She wants a jungle theme, but "with pink" and "lots of animals, like pigs and dolphins." So here's what I started with. I'm thinking I'll do a two tier cake and put them sitting on the bottom tier leaning against the top tier and do some jungle-y leaves and pink flowers on the bottom and a little Mina (my daughter) in fondant on the top. But we'll see how much free time I end up having this week since tomorrow is the beginning of my first full week back to work after maternity leave...

It seemed like there was a lot of drama for a first episode. I found a larger proportion of the contestants (I refuse to refer to them as "cheftestants")to be annoying and overly high strung. But I was still totally sucked in! And Johnny Iuzzini is waaaay hotter than Tom Colicchio...no contest. Just sayin'.

Roasted, tossed first with garlicky olive oil and lots of finely shredded parm or asiago or pecorino or whatever grating cheese I happen to have in the fridge. Tossed on a sheet pan and in the oven until brown and crispy. Never even makes it to the table, I always end up eating it right off of the cookie sheet.

So I was at a store that is run by a Lebanese family that has an amazing Deli with lots of yummy ready to eat items (baba ghanouj, hummus, pitas made to order, kebab, etc) and I had an amazing cheese pie filled with feta, kalamata olives, and (I think) pine nuts. As I tend to do when I find something I like, I want to figure out how to make it at home so I don't have to wait for the store to open to satisfy my craving. It looked like this, the third one from the right: Any thoughts on how I might go about making it at home? Much thanks for anyone's thoughts on the subject!

I usually make a few kinds of truffles, chile lime macadamia with dark chocolate, white chocolate coconut, and something with milk chocolate, which I mix up and do differently every year (last year it was chai) so there's a nice variety. Gives me an excuse to break out the polycarb molds I got during culinary school. I did contemplate doing a certificate for one baked treat during the year instead, since I get hit up a lot to do birthday cupcakes, cakes, etc...although I'm not sure it wouldn't get out of hand and I'm NOT doing a wedding cake for free! I figure I've still got about a month before I really have to get cracking...and, Stephanie, feel free to send some vanilla my way, I'd LOVE that as a gift!

Ah yes, sweet delicious lard...any pie with pig parts is naturally going to be superior. And if it's got a smiley face on it, so much the better! I got roped into making cupcakes for a friend's church bake sale, which I enjoyed because I got to experiment with some new recipes I've been wanting to try. They are: Red velvet with cream cheese frosting, dulce de leche with caramel buttercream and a dulce de leche drizzle, cafe con leche with coffee buttercream, vanilla with vanilla bean buttercream, vanilla with chocolate buttercream, and double chocolate with chocolate buttercream. I say any day that I get to use three colors of metallic sanding sugar and sprinkles is a good day!

That cheesecake looks pretty tasty, Kim! I love anything key lime. I generally don't make cheesecake because I end up eating the whole thing! Safer to just order it out and only have one piece available.

Those look yummy! I had the same problem last time with my cinnamon rolls, I like them so cinnamony they're almost hot. I made cupcakes for my daughter's teacher's birthday. And of course I kept the extras for me...

No problem! I figure if I'm interested, someone else somewhere must be...let me know if you end up using it, I'd be interested in reading it!

I'm the "dessert girl." Never do I get asked to bring an entree, appetizer, or even a bottle of wine. It's always dessert. I do know how to cook too, not just bake! Maybe once in a while I'd like to be able to half ass it and bring a decent bottle of wine rather than having to break out the Kitchenaid...I do have three kids including a newborn and a two year old!

What about something relating to how food is named, you could explore different foods with unique names or even common foods and discuss where their names came from, kind of a more anthropological bent to food writing. For example, barbecue coming from the West Indies Barbacoa, and the related meanings. But then again, I'm a geek and etymology has always interested me... Good Luck!

I absolutely think that people would at least bake more if they had better equipment. When friends come over and I'm baking they're always amazed that everything goes together so easily with the right equipment. It makes for a more consistent product, as well as saving sooo much time that you're not tempted to use dumb shortcuts that inevitably result in an inferior product. Now if all the recipes could just be written better...but that's another thread too!

Peach almond sounds amazing...feel free to send any surplus out my way...